23Penalty for refusing to give evidence

23 Penalty for refusing to give evidence

(1) Where the Commission takes evidence in the course of inquiry into a matter, a person appearing as a witness before the Commission shall not, without lawful excuse, refuse or fail to answer a question, being a question relevant to the inquiry, that is put to the person by the Commission.

Penalty: 10 penalty units.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a question shall be deemed to have been put to a witness by the Commission: (a) if it is put by any of the members who are exercising the powers of the Commission in relation to the matter; or (b) if, with the approval of a majority of the members who are exercising the powers of the Commission in relation to the matter, it is put by a person authorized by a majority of those members to appear in connexion with the taking of the evidence.